I almost want to applaud them for that trick of taking part of the truck mode and storing it in the legs. I was rather impressed by that engineering. But I hate having the fake windows for robot mode. That just irks me and there's no getting past it. And I'm just not dead set on getting that animation form perfect, so none of this really matters to me.

This is basically a different way of making a transformer. They decided to go with this whole "lets store a bunch of the vehicle parts out of the way with whole new robot parts to replace them." And...it's an idea. It's not like it's never been done before to some degree, and this just goes way farther in that aspect. It doesn't pull off what I want out of a transformer--ESPECIALLY Optimus Prime. But if you want that absolute truck form with an absolute robot form, this was likely the only way to do it. And they certainly pulled it off to a degree. But skipping out on a visual compromise of having the truck and robot forms sharing parts and splitting the difference, this compromises the figure by having a huge backpack to hide a lot of that stuff and hinges/panels all over the place. And a transformation that really breaks the illusion. If it were a partsformer at this point, it would all be the same. I just don't like it. I appreciate what they were trying for, and it looks great dead ahead and from a decent distance. But I don't buy figures so I can view them from one single angle with one eye closed to get the image just right.

For what they were going for and how, they certainly put a lot of work into it. For what I want out of an Optimus Prime masterpiece? This isn't it.

 

What's wrong with MP-10?

 

Here's the Official Voice Clips for MP-44

"I have a Good Idea"
https://tf.takaratomy.co.jp/wpadmin/wp-content/themes/tf/img/products/tf_mp/item_tf_mp-44_001.mp3

"Megatron!"
https://tf.takaratomy.co.jp/wpadmin/wp-content/themes/tf/img/products/tf_mp/item_tf_mp-44_002.mp3

"Saibatron Warrior! Transform! !"
https://tf.takaratomy.co.jp/wpadmin/wp-content/themes/tf/img/products/tf_mp/item_tf_mp-44_003.mp3

Source: 視聴サウンド（コンボイVer.3）｜トランスフォーマーオフィシャルサイト｜タカラトミー

 

This is probably for you: Transform Element TE-01 (Masterpiece Scaled G1 Optimus Prime) Color Prototype Images - Transformers News - TFW2005

 

Interesting, they almost make it sound like others could be candidates for a 3.0 designation going forward as well.

 

The 1st line is equivalent to the original line: "I have a plan."

 

Takara is Sith.. come join us in the dark side friend. Let the hate flow..

 

They aren’t faux windows! They aren’t faux windows! Should be stickied!  

Another thing worth noting - this Prime has (albeit among the other 200 steps  ) more of the iconic moves of the G1 toy/toon than MP-1/10. Those two have the arm reveal and head flip, but the legs are done with a waist swivel and folding the cab back above the waist rather than just flipping the legs back at the hip joint. This Prime still brings the arms out the same way (after the cab sides disappear) and he still has the head flip. But also, there is no waist swivel and you flip the legs back at the hips just like OG Prime! I love that they even consider this type of thing important!

 

I actually love faux parts. Like MP Ultra Magnus' tiny foot wheels and Sunstreaker 's chest/car roof, MP44's panel swaps are clever. It's all part of the grand illusion. Its one of the most effective tools in engineering desired proportions.

 

Actually...that's kinda what I'm sticking with right now. It still feels dated, though, but none of the current offerings really hit it for me. I think my thing is, I'm ready for a new version, and I just don't like what's out there (primarily talking about MP44, since that's the thread here). So MP-10 will do. Though, speaking of what else is out there...

I REALLY want to like the other two offerings (this and the Magic Square one). But TE in particular is just missing some marks. It's one of those things where, all put together, it doesn't seem to really fit right. His truck mode is STELLAR! But the robot mode (and everyone talks about the head being ugly--it is!) just comes across...flat?

And the MS one--the body is too wide. It ALMOST gets the robot mode that I want except for that aspect. But his truck mode is worse than MP-10's "legs sticking out the back of the truck cab" look.

 

TEs giant wipers didn't bother you?

 

Thx for the link... still makes me hope for some news of a Hasbro version... tho it will make my hate having the TT version.

 

If I'm seeing the instructions correctly, you flip the windows around, and the robot chest windows are on the other side with a different design. I consider that fake. I personally want those sides to be the same.

...not really? I know a lot of people are bothered by them, and they do stand out. But it doesn't really matter as he's still not a choice for me anyway.

 

*shrug*

The designers wanted to "shapeshift" the toy as much as the animation does, and this was their solution to a conundrum with his usual window proportions.

 

Let's not forget that his windows are also wider in alt-mode, thanks to the central flap that come down from the backpack.

The whole point is that chest windows needed to shrink in robot mode, as well as change angle. So the fact that they did that while still using the exact same windows (albeit their reverse side) is sweet as fuck, regardless of whether it's the stylistic choice you want.

Only need to compare MP-10 next to MP-44 to see the difference:


(hah, remember when ^this^ was our best photo of v3?)

44's chest is so much slimmer/narrower than 10's, but I'm sure his alt-mode is nigh-on identical. Makes him look in much better cartoon scale with the other Ark bots, as this pic attests:

 

I'd guess if Hasbro does release this, it'll be less premium than the Takara (less paint, accessories, etc.) to cut costs like they did with MP-10. Maybe still worth it to some if it's cheaper and they put Cullen's voice in, however.

 

If Hasbro released a copy with Cullen's voice and less paint I'd still be willing to pay the same damn price - I'd be so down for a copy I can mess freely with without a care for paint wear (not that that's stopped me with MP-36).

 

IIRC, the only real cost-cutting Hasbro performed on MP-10 was to trim the deco from the inside of the trailer, leaving it bare instead of painting the inside silver as well as the outside. This is going to be more difficult, since more of the cost is tied into his astronomical parts count.

 

Yeah--while I don't care for it, it's not a bad solution for what they are going for in this toy. It fits in with everything else the toy does to get what they want. I think I'm just willing to let the truck windows look however they would so long as it's the same as the robot mode chest (and I think that could be done without being lazy). In my head, I think I want the opposite of what MP-10 does. Not so narrow in truck mode for the better robot mode.